Two Brothers, One Health System Improving Heart Care in West Virginia

Dr. Elie Gharib, cardiologist and medical director of the cath lab and cardiovascular services at CAMC, and Dr. Wissam Gharib, cardiologist and director of structural heart at Mon Health Heart & Vascular Center

Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) and Mon Health System have long been known for quality heart care, and their cardiology services have only been strengthened after the creation of Vandalia Health brought the institutions together. For brothers Elie Gharib, MD, and Wissam Gharib, MD, the partnership even reunited their professional careers.

Dr. Elie Gharib is a cardiologist and medical director of the cath lab and cardiovascular services at CAMC in Charleston. His brother, Dr. Wissam Gharib, is a cardiologist and director of structural heart at Mon Health Heart & Vascular Center in Morgantown.

“Being part of the same health care system is wonderful because as we become more integrated, we are taking the best of both systems,” Dr. Elie Gharib said. “We are seeing what works best at one institution and replicating it at the other.”

Now that both providers are a part of Vandalia Health, they can collaborate on complex patients, use the size of the organization to leverage resources, and buy the newest technologies and devices.

Both CAMC and Mon Health Heart & Vascular Center are nationally recognized in heart care. Together as Vandalia Health, they continue to lead the way in technological advances.

“We keep bringing the newest innovations in cardiac care to our patients here in West Virginia,” said Dr. Wissam Gharib. “We are among the first to bring minimally invasive valve surgery (TAVR), left atrial appendage occlude devices (WATCHMAN and Amulet), minimally invasive mitral valve repair (MitraClip), complex revascularization (chronic total occlusions of coronary arteries), as well as the newest trials of devices that are currently in development to our patients.”

There were six children in the Gharib household who all went on to become physicians. Drs. Elie and Wissam Gharib work together to deepen their knowledge on cardiology to enhance heart care for patients across the state.

“My brothers, being cardiologists like myself, give us a lot of conversations together when we meet up,” Dr. Elie Gharib said. “We try to go to conferences together, always bounce ideas off each other, discuss health care issues and different approaches to procedures.”

“It is very special to be able to discuss my subspecialty with my brothers. It is a great privilege to be able to collaborate on complex cases and ask for advice from your siblings,” said Dr. Wissam Gharib.

The Gharib family left Lebanon in 1983 due to an ongoing civil war and settled in the United States where they learned a new language and culture. Both Drs. Elie and Wissam Gharib decided to stay in West Virginia to practice medicine and raise their families.

To learn more about heart care offerings at Vandalia Health, visit CAMC.org/Heart or MonHealth.com/Heart.